He pays me no mind as I walk past him and into the house. Turning back, I look at him in pity, knowing he lost his wife and is lost himself.
“Can I get you anything, Governor?” I ask politely, but he is silent. I wonder if he heard, but then he holds the bottle up, shaking it, swirling the contents around. I turn and walk into the house.
Scrutinising the chairs and couch, neither looking particularly clean, I find the cleanest one I can and lay a blanket over the seat, just in case. The girls loiter in the hallway. I wave them in, and reluctantly, they obey. Choosing to sit together on the couch opposite me, they are unaware of the filth on which they sit, or they’re just used to it.
I feel pity for these girls; their dad really needs to wake up and realise how bad things have gotten.
Megan and Eliza stare at me as I hand them a book each, with different reading levels that I think they should be at by this age, and they eye it with suspicion.
“Let’s see how good your reading is.” With a groan, they open their books.
I let out a little triumphant sigh.
Chapter Eighteen
Wyatt
I’m losing my mind in this cramped, filthy wagon.Only able to stretch my legs when the guards see fit to take rest, only then do they allow us outside to relieve ourselves before forcing us back into the wagon.
If we’re lucky, they chuck some food at us. Scraps they’ve deemed not good enough for themselves or the horses. More often than not, it’s stale bread that they’ve dropped in the mud or meat that has rotted.
Water is impossible to get. I haven’t had anything but the tiniest of drops since we left Vendyl. My mouth is dry, and my head feels like it’s going to explode any second, but the guards offer nothing. No water or liquid of any sort.
Yesterday, I sat with my tongue hanging out through the bars, trying to catch droplets of rain, while the guards sloppily guzzle down liquids.
These ‘men’ are the foulest I’ve ever encountered.
Sleep has been difficult; the floor is stained with stale urine and vomit—a housewarming gift from the previous occupants. My stomach turns with every breath. I’ve tried sleeping upright in the back corner, facing a rip in the awning or a crack in the panels, hoping for some fresh air to help me settle. But between the stench inside and the bumpy road, I never sleep for long.
I honestly believe the guards deliberately try to hit every rock and hole, sending us sorry idiots inside flying about for further punishment. With the wheels rolling and catching on largestones, I shuffle to the back of the cart, watching the fields go by through the bars. Watching farmers tending to their flocks, and cows grazing on the long grass.
I always dreamed of adventures when I was younger, running off to fight bandits, saving innocents from their tyranny. Sailing with pirates on the hunt for buried treasure and dodging the royal guard. Feasting with dwarves in the depths of the mountains. Befriending elves and living in luxury amongst their kind.
Andi, Elana, and I would often roleplay as kids; Elana the damsel in distress, Andi the evil kidnapper, and I the heroic knight coming to rescue the princess. Fashioning swords out of sticks, I fought my way through the obstacles we had set up.
The temptation to run off and find adventure was always on my mind, but the actual leaving, I could never do. Now, with Nia and Elana taken, and Andi gone, I can never go back. Not until I have them, and know they’re safe. I’ll do anything I have to, to get them home.
What does Adrian want with Andi? Would he stoop so low as to kidnap her family to coax her to him? My mind runs wild, imagining the cold, damp dungeons Adrian is keeping them in. Elana would never cope. Her fragile mind would break in an instant.
What will become of me? I’ll be thrown into whatever nefarious dungeon Adrian has at the bottom of his castle. Starved, tortured. Maybe never seeing them again, purposely keeping us apart. My chest tightens at the thought, but I will not show these guards any weakness.
I overheard them last night as I pretended to sleep, talking about Andi. I’d squeezed my eyes tight, as I quietly shuffled around so I could hear them better.
“Everyone in that damn town knew her, you can be sure of that,” a deep voice growled in disgust. “Lord Adrian shouldpunish them all for attempting to hide her, obstructing our search in the process.”
“Yeah. Did you see their faces when Auron pulled out his bone saw? Cried like a baby being ripped from its mother’s bosom,” a younger voice mocked. “I think we should just do away with him now.”
“It’s not up to you, though, is it?” the first voice grunted. “Lord Adrian will want to question him. Find out what he knows and where she went.”
An icy chill ran through me. That’s why I’m here.Well, good luck, arseholes. There’s not even the slightest chance I’ll give them what they want. No way would I endanger Andi like that.
The journey has been fairly boring, my companion is a withdrawn sort of chap, doesn’t venture into a conversation easily. Whereas I need it to keep me sane. The quietness is awful, unbearable, I kept trying to get him to talk to me the past few days, begging him to give me anything.
Today I eye him curiously, trying to figure him out, his face is bruised, old and new cuts all over, his clothes covered in dried blood. He looks like he could be a beggar who got on the wrong side of the guards, fighting for a scrap of food. He catches me staring and I quickly turn my gaze away.
Instead of a healthy conversation, I’m forced to sit in silence, to think. About what I was going to do, how I would escape, how I could plead my case to the High Lord, hoping he’ll accept that I know nothing about Andi or where she went.
Most of the time, I wriggle around trying to stretch the rope around my wrists, so I can free my hands. Or at least stretch it enough to shimmy them in front of me.